Tony Anderson – Energy Optimization (2010.10.26)

Video Transcript:

Energy optimization is our whole array, a whole menu of different measures that we have available to our customers to safe money. They came about because of state act- public act 295, it’s a state mandate that requires us to reduce our revenue by a certain percentage every year and that percentage is going up every year. We now have a directive or a mandate from the state if you will to conserve energy. That requires us to put a separate line item on our bill as well to fund the conservation measures. At Cherryland Electric Cooperative we call that public act 295 state tax. We call it a tax because it’s a mandate from the state. What that tax or mandate funds is water heater rebates, home energy audits, CFL bulbs which we’ve been giving those out like crazy, we have a bounty on old inefficient refrigerators where we will pay you fifty dollars and pick up your old refrigerator and then you can go out and get something more efficient. We are also doing a lot of work with our commercial customers changing out lighting so they can be more efficient as well. So we have a whole menu energy conservation measures we’re distributing across our system. Unfortunately we have to charge for that; there is an expense to that which our members are paying through the fee on their bill. We are authorized to go up to a dollar seventy-four with that fee, but by keeping it all in house and doing it locally and not hiring downstate contractors we’ve been able to keep that average fee around fifty to sixty cents for our membership. We are very proud of that we saving money at the least cost possible.